JB’s Lounge

Best kept Jazz secret in Sacramento… Shhh. The jazz happens every Sunday from 5pm to 8pm and they play it well. All the artists are unbelievable musicians laying down the fine sounds. During a break, some young gals got up on stage and played so its certainly an all ages venue. There was food and drink being served to the 120+ customers. But seating is limited so pay the $ 10 cover/​donation and get ready for some jazz at the Clarion Inn Lounge.

This place sucks for service, lets start with there Manager (no class) at all. Has no idea what customer service is. Was just there over the weekend, had some drinks and picture on our table, stepped out to dance and they cleared our table, took no responsiblity for our drinks or pics that we paid for. I told there manager I was going to write a review and he starts saying i was blackmailing him, LOL !!! what an idiot, we left right after. Will not be going back. anytime soon. Over priced drinks an lousy lousy Management. There workers can teach him a thing or two.

One of the very few places left in Sacramento that does classic jazz and reggae music. That alone gives it three stars.
The service in here can be non existent often and the crowd can be very snooty though.
Also charging $ 6 for a pint of Sierra Nevada is extortion.
There are plenty of other spots with good music within 5 miles of the place that are friendlier and have better prices.
However none of them have classic jazz on a Sunday evening.

I nearly gave this place two stars, but the nice layout warrants three. This place has great potential due to its spacious environment. However the room needs a strong a capable manager to make sure the lighting, sound, and care for the artists is taken care of. Each of these facets was sorely lacking for the performance of Steve Smith’s (my namesake) excellent Raga Bop Trio last night. The lone bartender could have used some help as well. I’ll give this place another shot to see if I just caught it on a bad night.

So as an E.C.T. (east coast transplant) this swanky joint really reminds me of a lounge I would saunter into back on the east coast. Lots of comfy couches & booths so it is easy to snuggle up & get your «mack» on if you see a hottie for sure. Plenty of Chairs & bar stools and oh yes a nice & large dance floor. The rug gets cut up in here with all the soulful tunes & bass booming. The Ladies are dolled up with the Heels & the fellas are collard & clean! My kinda place where real & professional folks can lay back and groove!
A friend of mine is the Genius that has the lounge on lock-​down pretty much Wed-​Sun with all of his events.
My favorite night of all to hit this spot is Thursday for the «Homegrown Soul Show!» This night it is packed with fabulous local «Urban» talent and it is such a palatable feeling of Soul food & Grandma’s luvin’!
Friday’s is Regaee by the pool then back inside to party with «DJ Reese Roundtree». This DJ is the Bomb! The best part is that while the grooves are bumpin he has the best line up of videos matching the songs. I dont know about you, but when was the last time MTV or BET really showed videos???
Anyhow The bartenders are on point & the waitresses are sweet as pie & deserve their tips since they kept the drinks flowing on both nights! This right here got my generous gift for their attentivnes.
On Reggae night I had a lemon drop martini that went down as cool as some lovely lemonade on a hot South Carolina day. Not to bad on the price either. For $ 7 it had me feeling happy to shake my tail-​feathers.
What time is it folks? It’s wine: thirty! I completely enjoy the Moscato as I lounged at the bar with good company on The Thursday that I enjoyed the homegrown soul show. Did I mention the 2 co-​hosts has the crowd completely in tune & involved before each singer hits the stage. The rules are simple
1. The singer backed by the band aint doing Kareoke
2. The crowd asks before each one starts the glorious question of «CAN THEY SANG?» With this the church choir effect rings through your soul especially after each talented individual exits stage left! Such a fun, amazing way to include the folks in the show!
On the yummy note: Love the French Fries & Chicken wings. You can order while in the lounge. They serve dinner fairly late, even though the restaurant is not connected to the bar. Another reason my gratitude increased to the waitresses!
If you love local Talent & a variety of faces… Slide on into JB’s on a Thursday or Friday for sure.

If I were to review this place a few years ago, it would have gotten a 1 or 2 stars for the feel of the lounge and the service. BUT, they have really stepped up their game!
The lounge has been remodeled and is larger with more seating, new furniture, and a bigger stage. There is more light because of the increased number of windows which can be closed to make the place feel more like a lounge. There is also room for a dance floor now.
On Monday, they have a jazz band that plays from around 7pm to 10pm.
The food was good and the service improved since my last visit. I am excited to have a nice place to listen to jazz and drink/​eat on a Monday evening/​night!

I was at one of the Mixture Pool parties at the Red Lion but had no idea there was an inside longe until 2AM when the DJ outside stopped playing. The entire party migrated inside a very nice lounge/​nightclub where another DJ was playing some really good dance music I never hear in Sacramento. The party inside JBs went till 4AM and the good looking crowd stayed and played the whole time. I felt like I was in New York or Miami! The place looks great front the real wood floors to the contemporary European furniture. It looked like they were still serving food because a few people had plates at thier booths.

I was drawn by the a flyer I picked up at Mochii yogurt for the mid-​day Martini Hour at JB’s Lounge with an Appetizer bar from 4−8pm. Anyways, my friend and I came on a late Friday afternoon. I noticed that the restaurant and the bar are no longer connected but you can order food from the bar.
Okay, for the freebies, we were given a small plate of sliced apples, gorgonzola, grapes, candied walnuts and crackers. They really hit the spot for the time being and our bartender was nice enough to give us a second helping. I am not sure if we had missed the appetizer bar or if the plate we received were it but nevertheless, the plate of fruits and cheese were tasty.
For the martini, the price is a little on the pricey side at $ 7 but I believe they use premium vodka and liqueur. I had the Godiva Chocolate martini which tasted more like a milk shake with alcohol that what I am used to in a chocolate martini but it still tasted good. My friend had a Pink Sapphire Martini with Sapphire, tonic and cranberry juice. I ordered a chipotle wings and I must say that I like this, it is smokey and hot but it is not so overpowering as with most buffalo wings at most places.
As for the place, there are plenty of couches, hardwood floors and plenty of plush seatings which are pretty easy on my butt. The layout can easily be converted to a club and possibly includes the pool as part of the lounge. On our visit, they were setting up a stage and seating for a show, which happens to be the «Weenie Manalogs» with Kato Kaelin. As you can guess, this is the penis version of the «Vagina Monolgues»… since we were already here, we took in the show. Many of the jokes were not new to me since the jokes may have been passed around on the internet via email forwarding…
Unfortunately, we had to leave early to meet another friend. I really felt bad because I had a conversation with the DJ before the show and we agreed that the club was set up a little bit like Ibiza in Oakland. For those who do not know, Ibiza was a concept of converting an entire motel into one huge night club. I am not expecting the RLI to used the entire hotel for this purpose but I am sure it can still work for a section of the hotel. I like this concept because you can rent a room for the night which you can make it an extention of the party. The only drawback is you can get some random people walking into your room to use the bathroom. But perhaps next time, we can partake in the club because you can party till 4am and then there is a free breakfast brunch with the room.